Artesian Wells. 395 



attached to a vertical boiler mounted on wheels, aiid fitted with a 

 " disselboom '' for draught purposes, and the rest of the gear can be 

 loaded on an ordinar}- wagon. 



The Hand or Horse-power Diamond Drill, No. (3) is made up 

 of the same parts — with the exception of the engine and boiler — as 

 the steam-power, but the whole is of a lighter make, and is driven by 

 means of a crank handle or horse-gear. 



The combined ^lant, No. (4), is made up by adding to the 

 Hand-power Diamond Drill monkey weight, lifting jacks and other 

 gear for driving and drawing lining tubes, and cutting chisels, sinker- 

 bar, and all appliances necessary for working on the percussion 

 principle. 



The Steam-power Percussion Machine, No. (5), is characterised 

 especially by its portability. On a wagon-frame, with wide-tired 

 wheels, is mounted a boiler and engine, a walking beam to give the 

 best motion for drilling, a hauling gear, a steam pump, a pipe driving 

 attachment, and a derrick; and the whole can be diawn over the 

 roughest roads by inspanning a small team of oxen or horses. It is 

 necessary, however, if the roads are bad tO' carry the heavy steel 

 chisels, sinker-bars, recovery tools, and other detachable gear, in 

 another wagon. The arrangement of the frame and working parts 

 is .such that the foreman can stand at the tools while drilling, or 

 while cleaning out the debris from the bore hole, and at the same 

 time reach the throttle valve, so that he can regulate the speed of the 

 engine as circumstances may require. The derrick is of the folding- 

 ladder pattern, and answers the purpose very well for bore holes not 

 <ieeper than 400 feet, to which depth the strain is not so great as to 

 neces-sitate a built derrick. 



DIAMONDS. 



An extremely important matter in connection with boring for 

 water is the construction of the tool edged with diamonds, or crown, 

 which is used with the diamond-drilling machine, and which is 

 essential where hard rock is met with, and under circumstances where 

 it is necessary to secure a core to shew the section of the geological 

 formation passed through. The diamonds, employed in this work 

 are obtained either from the mines in Brazil or from those in South 

 Africa. The black diamond, or Brazilian Carbonado, in composition 

 nearly pure carbon. 'is the hardest substance known, and is used for 

 piercing the densest rocks, such as quartz and dolerite, but several 

 kinds of Kimberley brilliant and boart are also made use of. as they 

 work very well in the less compact rocks and are not so costlv as the 

 Brazilian stones. Diamonds of pure water and good shape, such as 

 can be cut for ornamental purposes, are not as a rule used for boring, 

 hardness and freedom from cleavage planes being the qualities 

 most .needed. Suitable stones could be purchased at reasonable 

 prices in the earlier days of diamond drilling, but now this industrv 

 has reached such large dimensions that the better class of drilling 



